Several months ago, hubby and I were visiting a local vintage market, and one of the vendors was a floral designer.
In her booth was a fabulous flower display of white faux orchids in an antique dough bowl. It was set among green moss balls, and it was fabulous!
This display took my breath away…..but unfortunately, so did the price! Thankfully, the owner of the booth was gracious enough to let me take a picture of it for inspiration. I decided that I was going to try my hand at duplicating it in my old French champagne crate that I have.
I headed to a local wholesale florist that sells hundreds of different kinds of realistic looking faux flowers. I wanted to find some white orchids to try and replicate this piece.
Now, I know some of you may not be a fan of faux flowers, and I never have been either….until now. Today’s faux flowers are not like the ones from our mother’s generation!
They look so real that you will want to lean over and smell them!
I’ve had this large French champagne crate for awhile, and love displaying different things in it through the year, depending on the season.
I was actually able to acquire two of them, but I sold one in the shop and kept this one. It makes a perfect display piece on the blue french commode in the kitchen/breakfast room.
Inside, I placed brick size blocks of floral styrofoam in the bottom of the crate, spaced evenly apart. Using blue painters tape, I taped them down so they wouldn’t move, however the blue tape didn’t hold them very well.
I ended up using Gorilla Tape which holds everything!
I had purchased ten of the faux orchids and I placed them in the crate, sticking them down into the styrofoam so they would stand up.
Using crushed paper, I filled in all of the empty space inside the crate.
Then I took bags of green moss and laid the moss over the crushed paper, tucking it in around the edges and around each orchid stem.
The final touch was adding in some of my moss balls in different sizes.
It turned out exactly as I had hoped, and cost a fraction of the cost of the one we saw at the vintage market.
You could do this in any kind of container, and when using faux flowers, you have all kinds of flower choices.
I love orchids, and I have tried to grow so many of them over the years, but they ultimately end up dying.
This is a perfect alternative!
Cheers,
Cindy
Hello! I’ve had this pinned a while now and searching still for a crate like yours. I love it’s size and slanted edges. Please, would you know where I could locate one, this size with the slanted sides????? Would be so grateful if you knew!!!
I have only found two of these crates in the past. They are very hard to come by. Unfortunately, I don’t have any available at the moment.
Hello there,
What a lovely outcome. Thank you for sharing such great instructions with photos. I have a piece of pottery that I’ve wanted to fill with faux French tulips for some time but I couldn’t dream how to create the moss at the bottom. Paper! Simple, inexpensive and brilliant! Thank you again.
HI Cindy,
I love your Style.
Your Blog makes the world much better. Maybe you take to much care to your Orchids and they will die of to much water ?
I put them all 10 days into the shower and let them dry for 1 hour.
They will survive from November to March.
Regards from Germany, Christine
What a beautiful, special piece that you have. I am sure that many people think of sweet Susan often as although they were customers, they were also friends. I have leaned over the years, that if I am smitten with a piece and I go with my gut and by it then and there! I also, have a hard time letting go of things that I love Had to downsize this year and it was tough. I only sold to people that I thought would appreciate the pieces as much as I did. Although I would love to be in the business, I think I might could become a hoarder!!!
It’s definitely hard parting with special pieces. Once in awhile I find something that speaks to my soul and I can’t let it go, but that doesn’t happen often. I find great pieces that usually go into my shop for someone else to love, but letting this first crate go haunted me. It’s still very surreal that I found the second one…..and both of them coming from Susan! What are the odds?!? Thanks so much for commenting, Jeannie!
Everything is absolutely breathtaking. You always do everything so drop dead gorgeous. Thanks for saring.
You’re so sweet, Ivory, thank you!
Cindy, this is absolutely gorgeous! I have to say, I like yours even better than hers! And I agree with you about the faux flowers. I’m not a huge fan, but orchids for some reason look better than any other. Yours look completely real, even in the close ups. I’m always re-buying orchids so I may have to go this route too! Thanks for the inspiration!
Happy Friday!
Sheila
xo
So beautiful! I don’t have a dough bowl but I wonder if a vintage tool box would work as well? You’ve inspired me! I can’t wait to see the office reveal!! <3 ~Dell
Thank you, Dell! Yes, a vintage tool box would work beautifully!
Cindy, everything you touch turns to gold! You are truly and artist! I love the blue painted commode in your breakfast room! You use just the perfect amount of color to keep everything interesting. I like your orchid arrangement even better than the one from the shop! Can’t wait to see what project you will complete next. Did I miss the office space reveal?
Thank you, Sandy! No, you haven’t missed the office reveal….it’s coming up next week!
What’s your wall paint color?
The wall color is Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray.
I like the one you did more than the original.
Thank you so much, Rosalind!
Thank you for the easy tutorial! This is beautiful! Jealous of that crate though!
Thank you, Florence!
What a beautiful idea! I think yours looks so cool in that old crate! You got my wheels spinning and I may have to copy this!
Wonderful, Lynne!
GREAT JOB!! You are truly an ARTIST!! It looks exactly like the one at the market. And the crate is definately a keeper! Beautiful, Cindy!
Thank you so much, Mary!
Great job with your version of the arrangement, looks beautiful!!
Cindy, you are so talented and come up with some amazing ideas, which also makes you very clever. Thank you for sharing and the inspiration.
May I also ask how your sister is?
Many thanks
Sally xxx
Thank you so much, Sally! And thank you for asking about my sister….sadly, she passed away on May 6th. I miss her tremendously.
Oh my goodness, I am so sorry, I hope I haven’t upset you, I didn’t know. She is a peace now. I am sure you do and probably always will. Try and hold on to the wonderful memories you have made together nd in time it will hurt less. God bless xxx
Oh, Sally, please don’t apologize! I appreciate you asking!
Gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Debbie!
Just beautiful, Cindy! I have a blue and white footbath that I could do this in! Thanks for the inspiration!
You are so welcome, Pinky!
~Cindy~
aww your arrangement turned out stunning!!! Yes, the faux flowers are definitely NOT like what was available to our mothers !! hehe
I hope you are doing well !!
Hugs, Paula
IN.
p.s. where may I find the steps for over the doorway adding height? Thanks !
Paula, we haven’t done a post about adding the height to doorways yet….something I need to work on!
Absolutely beautiful! You did a wonderful job imitating the original orchid flower arrangement! I have a vintage pine box and might try to imitate your arrangement! Lol!
That would be wonderful, Elizabeth!
This is gorgeous – your eye is incredible. I wait for your posts every week. Thank you Cindy.
Aw, thank you so much, Katie!
Wow! You made it. Shhhh, I like your better. My heart still does flips when I see your beautiful blue dresser!
Gee, you are too sweet! Thank you, dear friend!
From one orchid killer to another,what are we doing wrong? This arrangement is stunning and so doable. Thank you for the step by step directions.
You are more than welcome, Sue!
So funny… I sit here reading this while looking at my flowerless orchid sitting on my kitchen window sill…aka ‘the plant hospital’ 😉 Thank you so much for this detailed DIY entry….I am now motivated and confident that I can create something at least similar (fingers crossed!!) to what you did with the champagne crate. Your orchids look truly fabulous! I love these posts 🙂
Susan, I’ve had a flowerless orchid sitting in my kitchen for months. It mocks me.
Gorgeous! MaryJo
A beautiful arrangement and so many possible variations. Thank you, Cindy, for sharing this project. The timibg ia perfect with Fall approaching.
Thanks so much, Barbara!
Gorgeous!! I am in love with your champagne crate (it is outstanding). And I agree-so many beautiful and realistic faux flowers and greenery these days.
My mother would not have approved though; she was one of those Garden Club ladies ;=).She would scold me for doing so, but I didn’t inherit her green thumb.
I love your use of the antique crate instead of a dough bowl. I believe yours is more beautiful than the shop lady’s at the vintage market.
Aw, thank you, Wrenda! You are so sweet! I love “the real deal” as well, but unfortunately I don’t have a green thumb with orchids! This is a perfect way to get the look!
Looks just beautiful Cindy! I like yours better than the one from the market! Great job! I am a big fan of orchids, I buy them…just can’t keep them alive for long!
Haha, Amanda, I know exactly what you mean! For a long time, every time I killed one, I would go out and buy another one. It would live for awhile, giving me hope that it was going to make it, only to succumb to my brown thumb a few months later.
Love love the container would be interested in purchasing if you come across another. Thanks
Hi Pam! They are definitely hard to find!
Beautiful, that French container is just amazing. Thanks for sharing your “how-to”. I love a statement floral arrangement!
Thank you, Debra!
It’s magnificent Cindy! I love how you share with us exactly how you do things. It’s so inspiring, and uplifting. You help me think in new ways of how possible it can be to create something lovely.
Thank you so much, Patti! I love it when someone is inspired to create something beautiful!
So gorgeous, Cindy. I have seen the champagne crates for sell around here and they are quite pricey. I do have dough bowls though. I always end up killing orchids, too and I do the ice cube method of watering and they still croak.
Haha, yes, I have tried all of the “tips and tricks”, including the ice cube method, and, like you, they always die. These faux orchids will work just fine for me!
Beautiful but to look totally realistic you need to add faux orchid leaves.
You are right, Phyllis, but unfortunately I didn’t find any with leaves in my area!
Cindy: An absolutely stunning arrangement and the faux orchids are lovely. Most of all, I am in love with the champagne crate – it is a wonderful treasure. Should you ever tire of it you can send it directly to me.
Have a lovely day!
Thank you so much, Sandra!
Very lovely arrangement! I agree, there are some artificial flowers and greenery that can definitely fool the eye.
Love love it
Love the display. It looks so real
Beautiful!!!!! How cleaver to do it yourself!!
Thanks for sharing!
Deb
Gorgeous arrangement Cindy! So love the Champagne crate of orchids. Rustic meets elegance. I love orchids. I have had good luck with them in my home and find that when you travel a lot they are great to have as they require less water and care! I think they like a little bit of neglect…or at least in my house! Those faux orchids look amazingly real!!!
Thank you, Shirley! Maybe that’s been my problem….I’m not neglecting them enough! I have the worst luck growing orchids. They will do fine for awhile, and then they all eventually die. I’m sure I will try again, but for now the faux orchids will work!
Viola!! You did it, Cindy and it looks stunning. Love the crate.
Thank you so much, Diane!